Reading Quiz Questions Chapter 1

Question 2: Which one of the following organisms has had the greatest impact on the environment?

Humans

Question 16: Which one of the following is an example of environmental sustainability?

Composting and tilling under parts of plants that are not harvested on a farm.

(Returning plant materials to soil replenishes the soil nutrients and supports the next generation of crops.)

Question 3: Which of the following represents a biotic component of a hardwood forest in Pennsylvania?

Mushrooms under some leaves.

Question 18: Which of the following represents an example of a regulating ecosystem service?

As river levels rise with spring precipitation and snowmelt in the Midwest of the United States, marshes and swamps along the edge of the Mississippi River become flooded. These flooded regions regulate water levels and reduce river levels and threats of flooding in the towns further along the river.

(This is an example of a natural, regulating property of rivers, which benefits humans.)

Question 5: Sunlight enters a prairie ecosystem where it promotes the evaporation of water, is captured and converted by photosynthesis into molecules that build and sustain plants, and is reflected back into the sky. If we created an energy equation of the input and outputs of this prairie ecosystem, we would say that _____.

The total amount of energy equals the total amount of energy absorbed, reflected, and released.

Question 7: In general, natural ecosystems are _____.

Influenced by surrounding ecosystems.

Question 20: Regular wildfires in many forests open up areas where new trees can grow. Eventually, these young trees will refill the burned regions and the mature forest will be restored. This type of recovery best illustrates _____.

Dynamic homeostasis in ecosystems.

(In this ecosystem, the natural responses to wildfires return the forest to its prior condition.)

Question 9: Removing parts from a car while trying to maintain its most important functions is most like the relationship between _____.

Ecosystem complexity and ecosystem services.

Question 21: Which of the following best illustrates sustainability?

Using solar panels on rooftops to generate electricity.

(Solar energy is a renewable resource. Solar energy powers most ecosystems in the world.)

Question 11: Two important sources of uncertainty in our understanding of the environment are _____.

Ignorance and complexity.

Question 23: Which one of the following LEAST applies to science?

Certainty of results.

(Science never removes all uncertainty by its investigations and conclusions.)

Have fewer homeostatic features and are more susceptible to drastic change.

Question 24: Some people advocate the creation of a carbon tax, based upon the carbon content of fossil fuels, as part of an effort to decrease the production of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The expectation is that if people have to pay more for carbon-based fuels, they will switch to non-carbon-based sources of energy. This effort best addresses which of the following aspects of sustainability science?

Human incentives that produce sustainable interactions between ecosystems and social systems.

Question 25: Which one of the following best represents a tipping point?

Deforestation reduces rainfall in a region, which leads to additional forest fires and more deforestation.

(This ecosystem has been so damaged that it can no longer return to its previous state.)